Concealed hinge



` Dec. 5, 1944. o. c. GEssLER CONCALED HINGE Filed Feb. 23, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Dec. 5,

UNITED STATES PATENT rfiA CONCEALED HINGE @tto C. Gessler, Detroit, Mich.

Application February 23, 1942, Serial No. 31,941

(on. revisa) 6 (llaims.

My invention relates door hinges chiey of the type used in automobiles. Such hinges being manufactured in very large quantities, it is necessary to produce them in interchangeable form by dies or similarly accurate means so that no work need be done on any individual hinge at the time of assembly of the doors upon the bodies as is the practice in the factories.

This condition is more particularly important at the present time, when most of the vehicles manufactured are of the military type, and with especial regard to this requirement I have provided a hinge having a pressed steel bracket of strong and simple construction which may be first assembled with the door, after which the door and the hinge may be attached to the vehicle body by means of a single bolt for each hinge.

By this construction doors of military vehicles may be quickly interchanged in the field without the use of skill and experience such as is at present necessary in the factory assembly. It follows, therefore, that with a, few spare doors of my improved construction a whole fleet of trucks or armored cars may be maintained in continuous operation at points remote from the factory or lpoint of origin. A further improved feature of my construction resides in the use of a resilient element by which movement of the door upon its hinges is retarded, and its accidental swinging is prevented. -v

With these and other objects in view, I will now describe a preferred embodiment of myinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view 'of my improved hinge showing fragmentarily the adjacent portions of the vehicle and of the door.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.-

Figure 3 is a side elevationtaken alongline l3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevation taken along line of Figure 2.

' or moving member of the hinge adapted to the Figure 5 is a. plan view corresponding to Flg-4 x Figure 7 is a sectional elevation taken on line 11 of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a diagram, drawn lto a reduced scale,

showing the sheet steel blank from whichvmy improved bracket is formed.'

Figure 9 shows a horizontal section of a modi,

Atied form of bracket or xed support'.

thereacross without kinks or hinge bracket shown in Figure 11.

Figure 13 is a horizontal section showing another modification of the hinge bracket.

Figure 14 is a similar section showing the hook or moving member of the hinge to be coupled with the form of bracket shown in Figure 13.

Figure 15 is a horizontal section showing a iurther modincation of the bracket, and

Figure '16 is a similar section showing the corresponding hook or moving hinge member.

Like characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Referring more particularly to Figures l to 8 of the-drawings, P is the stationary or pillar memlber of the vehicle and D is the door carried by the moving member or hook H of the hinge. The pillar has the front vertical Wall Pl, side walls P2,'P3' and rear wall Pri, while the door has a front .panel Dl, rear panel D2, end panel D3, and central member Dit to Awhich one end of the hinge strap H is connected as by the bolts H2. B is the bracket or lxed support of the hinge, to'which the hinge strap H is connected by the vertical hinge pin HP.

lIlhe bracket B is in general of box-like construction having a front Wall Bl adapted to lie closely against the front wall Pi oi the pillar, and continuous with the wall Bl is a side wall B2 which is secured by the single bolt K to the side Wall P3 of the pillar, which at this point may* be formed with a cavity, as at C, as shown more particularly in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings. The front wall Bi is bent' overasy at c so as to partially surround the edge of the wall Pl.

of the pillar, thus forming a ll--shapedl portion, the two legs of which are connected by a rivet R, and the wall PII of the rpillar is slotted as at y (Figure 2) to receive this rivet and thereby retain the bracket as a whole in vertical alignment when secured in position by the bolt K. The front Wall Pi of the pillar is recessed as at e i'n Figure 7 so as to receive the short arm BH of the -shaped portion of thebracket, so that the said arm is-in general ush with the face of the wall PI, allwingthe body panel L to extend irregularities. Thusgby removing the bolt K, the ,bracket as a whole can be withdrawn horizontally from the pillar, the rivet R passing out through the slot y therein, which makes the assembly and disassembly of the bracket and the pillar both speedy and simple.

Continuous with the front wall BI of the bracket are upper and lower horizontal portions B3, and exteriorly of these [portions are the portions B4 which are in close contact therewith as shown, the portions B3 and B4 forming together upper and lower horizontal walls which are provided with holes to receive the pin HP. The pin HP has an upper head I-IPI which is held in position by meansof a lug B44 formed integral with one of the [portions B4. The portions B3 have upwardly and downwardly extending flanges B33 which are received in depressions W in the wall P2 of the rpillar.

In Figure 8 is shown diagrammatically the sheet metal blank from which the bracketis made.

From this diagram the various parts above described can be easily identiiled, the bent lines being shown dotted. It will be noted that in the members B3, B4 are holes HP2 which receive the hinge pin HP. In the member B2 also is shown the hole KI to receive the bolt K, and

in the upper of the two members B4 is shown the punching of the member B44 which is turned up over the head of the hinge pin to'secure it in position. In the interior of the box and secured thereto by the rivet R is a U-shaped spring member S which embraces the hook H so as to frictionally retard the movement of the same around the hinge pin, thus preventing accidental swinging of the door. In the sectional plan view,

Figure 5, the door 3D shown in solid lines in the closed position and in broken lines in the open position, the front panel of the door in the open position being designated Dll and the rear panel D22.

It will be observed from the foregoing description and by reference to the drawings that I have provided astrong and simple hinge for the purpose set forth, and one which is easily and quickly installed and removed,` and while I have herein described and shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the same pertains that various modiiications may be made to suit different requirements without departing from the spirit of my invention as deilned in the ap- 7 pended claims. For example, it will be noted `that while the stationary Iportion of my hinge is made from a single'piece of sheet metal, spotwelding may be resorted to at various points to I ensure a solid construction.

In the supplementary Figures 9 to 16, inclusive, are a series of hinges which illustrate the development of the present hinge.

In the form of the invention as shown in Figure-9 there is illustrated a bracket made from sheet metal having base, side and end walls similar to the bracket shown in Figures 1 to 8 inclusive. An opening L is provided in the end wall for receiving a bolt or the like so that the bracket may be fastened to the -vehicle door pillar. The bracket may be further fastened in place by means of welding or .the like at the points indicated WI. The side walls are provided with openings for receiving the hinge pintle after -the hinge strap, shown in Figure 10, is inserted between the side walls so that the eye thereof registers with the openings in the side walls indig cated at T.

In the further modified form of the invention shown in Figure 11 thebracket includes a base, side and end walls likewise similar to the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 8 inclusive and the side walls are provided with openings T for .receiving a hinge pintle so that when the hinge strap, as shown in Figure 12, is inserted between the side walls the hinge strap may freely swing thereon. The end wall is provided with an opening L for receiving an anchoring bolt and the bracket may be further held in position by means of welding between the bracket and pillar at the points Wl.

In the further modified form of the invention shown in Figure 13 the bracket comprises an angled base portion having upstanding side walls and an arcuately curved end wall. The bracket may be welded at the point Wl to various locations of the body pillar and the side wings are apertured for receiving a hinge pintle adapted to extend through the eye of the hinge strap, shown in Figure 14;

In Figure 15 the shape of the bracket is changed slightly and in this form of the invention the side Walls are reenforced by the pressed portions R surrounding the area of the hinge pintle opening T.

The hinge strap shown in Fig. 16 is adapted to be inserted between the side walls olf the bracket so that a hinge pintle may extend through the openings T and the eye of the hinge strap.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A hinge structure comprising an angle bracket having a plate-like base portion for attachment to a door frame, a plate-like angle portion formed integral with the plate-like base portion and extending at right angles and per pendicularly thereto for attachment to another portion of a door frame structure, wings formed on each of two opposite side edges of the base portion and angle'portion arranged in contacting overlapping relation to provide spaced-apart sets of wings to receive a hinge strap therebetween, anges carried by one set of said'wings and one of said plate-like portions for embracing and being attached to portions of the door frame structure, a hinge strap having an eye extending between said spaced-apart overlapping wings and a. hinge pintle pivotally connecting said hinge strap to said overlapping wings.

2. A hinge structure comprising an angle shaped bracket having angularly disposed platelike portions adapted to be detachably secured to a support, inwardly directed overlapping contacting wing portions formed on each of two opposite side edges of the plate-like portions of the angle bracket to provide spaced-apart sets of wing portions adapted to receive a hinge strap therebetween, a hinge strap extending between said setsof wing portions for being freely and swingingly supported therebetween and a U- shaped spring member with its base portion anchored to one of the plate-like portions and having arcuately curved arm portions for frictionally engaging and embracing the hinge strap edges during its swinging movement to and from its closed position.

3. A hinge bracket for attachment upon a door frame member of angle sectionv having angularly disposed walls, said hinge bracket comprising an angle shaped member having angularly disposed plate-like portions adapted to conform to the shape of the support and secured to said angular walls, inwardly directed wing extensions on the side edges of the plate-likeportions of the angle bracket arranged in contacting overlapping relation forming spaced apart sets oi` wing extentween, and a hinge strap pivotally supported between said sets of wing extensions for free swinging movement therebetween. e

4. A hinge bracket'for attachment to a doo frame pillar of angle cross-section having a recessed portion,said hinge bracket including a pair of angularly disposed plate-like portions conforming to the shape of the angle pillar, means for detachably securing one of the platelike portions of the bracket to the recessed portion of the pillar, means carried by the other plate-like portion of the bracket for detachably securing the bracket to another portion oi the pillar, inwardly extending wings formed integrally with each of two opposite side edges of each plate-like portion of the hinge bracket with sions adapted to receive a hinge strap therebeadjacentwings arranged in overlapping contactv 5. A concealed hinge structure comprising a hinge bracket, said hinge'bracket being formed of angularly related plate-like members and being adapted to be detachably secured to a door frame pillar of angle cross-section, a pair of in.--

wardly extending spaced-apart wings formed on each plate-like member at opposite side edges thereof with the wings along adjacent side edges arranged incontacting overlapped relation to provide spaced sets of Wings adapted to receive a hinge straptherebetween, a hinge strap between said sets of wings, apintle connecting said inge strap to said sets of wings, means for fastening one of the plate-like members to one wall of the angular pillar and means formed on an outer edge or the other plate-like member for embracingan edge portion of the other wall of the angular door frame pillar.

6.' A concealed hinge structure comprising a hinge bracket having angularly disposedv platelike'members adapted to be detachably secured` to a door frame pillar of angle cross-section, in-

wardly extending pintle pin supporting wings.

formed along each side of said plate-like members arranged in overlapping spaced-apart sets to receive a hinge straptherebetween, a hookshaped hinge strap pivotally mounted between said sets of spaced overlapping Wings and a Uf 

